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Building an Adventure
See also: Gamemastering An adventure- sometimes called a mission- is a collection of related encounters designed to fit together, creating a cogent storyline for the game. Some adventures are only short episodes in the campaign or interludes between longer adventures. Others represent significant missions, while still others form the backbone of the campaign. When building a campaign, adventure, or encounter, try to think in terms of heroic goals. What must the heroes achieve or accomplish? A heroic goal usually begins with a descriptive verb that best defines the required action: capture, defeat, discover, destroy, escape, find, negotiate, obtain, protect, rescue, and survive are good examples. Once you have a suitable verb, flesh out the details: Rescue the princess from the detention cellblock. Capture the plans for the Emperor's newest superweapon. Negotiate safe passage aboard the smuggler's Space Transport. Every encounter should have a specific, attainable goal that heroes can achieve. For example, an encounter might require the heroes to obtain a Code Cylinder from a Rodian thug. The encounter setup could be as simple as cornering the thug in a cantina, or as complex as a landspeeder chase through the dusty streets of Mos Eisley. (Capturing the thug alive could be a secondary or additional goal.) Whether or not the heroes obtain the Code Cylinder will determine or affect their goals in subsequent encounters. Just as each encounter has a clearly defined goal, so too does every adventure. For short adventures, the goal might be very simple: Find R2-D2 in the Tatooine desert and bring him back safely. A longer adventure mighty have an ultimate goal that can be accomplished only after the heroes achieve minor encounter goals and overcome various obstacles. For instance, an adventure's ultimate goal might be to destroy a new Imperial superweapon, but accomplishing this goal might require the heroes to capture an Imperial spy, discover the location of the superweapon's secret construction facility, infiltrate the facility, defeat the Imperial forces in the facility's control room, and activate the superweapon's self-destruct system. A campaign need not have a clear goal (Particularly when it begins), but it should have a theme or context. When Luke and Ben meet Han and Chewbacca in Mos Eisley, they (And their "Players," in this model) had no idea that the ultimate end of their "Campaign" would be the overthrow of the Empire and the establishment of the New Republic. However, the GM of this "Campaign" probably had a good idea that these heroes would become involved with the Rebellion during the campaign, and the Empire would be their primary opposition. What Makes an Adventure Exciting? Creating a memorable adventure requires more than just an interesting plot or a grand finish. Remember that in most cases, the heroes won't be able to see the behind-the scenes machinations of the villain or the clever plot twists that occur on the bridge of the Imperial starship. While you want your adventures to feel like they could come from a movie, you can't always rely on the same techniques that the moviemakers use. Where are a few tricks to help you keep your adventures memorable and exciting. Intriguing Interactions Too often, players (And GMs) see an adventure as little more than a string of firefights separated by "Talking." This shortchanges one of the most compelling parts of a roleplaying game: playing a role. In addition to creating interesting characters, the GM must treat these characters as more than just cardboard props to be interacted with and then discarded. In general, run a GM character just as a player would run a hero- take whatever actions the character would take, assuming the action is possible. That's why it's important to determine a GM character's general outlook and characteristics ahead of time if possible, so you know how to play the character properly. When a GM character interacts with heroes, the GM determines the character's initial Attitude (Hostile, Unfriendly, Indifferent, Friendly, or Helpful). A hero might try to influence this Attitude with a Persuasion check. However, not all interactions require a check. Calling a Wookiee a "Walking Carpet" might shift the Wookiee's demeanor from Indifferent to Hostile. It doesn't take a roll- just the right words and deeds- to turn someone more hostile. In general, a hero cannot repeat attempts to influence someone. Although a GM character can use the Persuasion skill to influence another GM character, the Attitudes of the heroes are never influenced by a Skill Check- the players always decide those. Worthy Adversaries While it's all well and good for the heroes to mow through a few ranks of Battle Droids or Stormtroopers during an adventure, this type of encounter grows tiresome quickly. Be sure to include competent adversaries for the heroes to encounter, whether as common enemies, archvillains, or even occasional foils. An easy mistake is making an adversary too powerful, believing that the heroes will have it "Too Easy" unless their opponent is Darth Vader. Not every opponent has to be a Dark Lord of The Sith. An intelligently played enemy can often seem much more powerful than they appear on paper. In the same vein, nothing is more disappointing than a climactic battle with a villain who turns out to have a glass jaw. If you know that your villain will face the heroes in combat, make sure they can stand up to them (Or has plenty of assistance from underlings). Exciting Combats One reason that the Lightsaber duels in the Star Wars movies are so exciting is that they tend to take place in interesting locations. From a pitched battle on a narrow ledge above a Cloud City airshaft to a death duel interrupted by leaps between platforms and opening and closing energy fields, these elements add twists to traditional combat scenes. While any combat can be exciting you should occasionally have the heroes face opponents in a nontraditional setting. Sometimes mounted combat (Or aerial mounted combat) can provide a change of pace. Underwater settings can be interesting as well. A short list of other suggestions appears below. For more ideas, look to the Star Wars movies, novels, comics, and video games. Daring Escapes Sometimes heroes get captured. It happens all the time in the movies. While it would be fairly easy for the bad guys to simply kill the heroes at that point, it's more interesting and fun to "Take them alive". Maybe the villains plan to interrogate the heroes, or maybe the heroes are worth more to them alive. When heroes are knocked unconscious or otherwise force to surrender, the game isn't over. Quite the contrary! Instead, try setting up the situation in which the heroes can perpetrate a daring escape, either alone or with some unexpected assistance. In The Empire Strike Back, Leia and Chewbacca escape Imperial custody with the unexpected help of Lando Calrissian, in Return of the Jedi, the heroes escape the clutches of Jabba the Hutt through resourcefulness, teamwork, and sheer luck. Daring escapes are staples of good adventure stories and an opportunity for heroes to turn an unfortunate situation into an advantageous one. Compound Encounters You can spice up an otherwise boring scenario by adding new elements after the action has already started. After the players think they know what's going on, make the encounter more complex by adding a new threat, new goal, or new opportunity. The simplest kind of compound encounter adds a new foe halfway through a fight. If a group of Assassins attacks the heroes in a cantina, have their Bounty Hunter leader show up 4 rounds later. Similarly, if the heroes are convinced the focus of a fight in Mos Eisley is to defeat a few Stormtroopers, they're not expecting a Bantha stampede. It's important to remember the overall Encounter Level of a compound encounter. Heroes haven't had a chance to recover and heal since the beginning of an encounter, so anything they face is all part of the same encounter, and should be added together to determine the Encounter Level. It is slightly easier to deal with foes that attack a few rounds apart (Since not all enemies can attack the heroes off the bat), but in general you don't want to throw more challenges at the heroes just because their arrival time is staggered. A compound encounter is a good way for a typical scenario to become more interesting, not a way to sneak in more foes that the heroes can deal with. For example, the heroes know an Imperial Inquisitor is hunting them down to capture their Force Sensitive members. They've been attacked by his troops once already, and know how tough those Nonheroic characters are. When the heroes are trying to convince a junk dealer to sell them a Datapad with critical information, the Inquisitor's troops attack. The junk dealer hides at first, but after three rounds he screams he's leaving, and if the heroes want the Datapad they can get it themselves. He throws it onto a conveyor belt, where it's carried toward a smelter. The next round, local guards show up and also start shooting at the heroes. Not only must they beat twice as many foes, but the heroes must reach the Datapad before it's melted.